Indian Antiquities (Saint Domingue)

 

Whilst taking a second look at Nicolson's Essai sur l'histoire naturelle de Saint-Domingue. Avec figures en taille-douce, we realized that we did not note the origins of some of the indigenous artifacts illustrated in his book. Figure 1 was found in the Cul de Sac plain region, a likely contender for the political center of Xaragua. Stylistically, it is similar to some of the works of sculpture or statuary found in the "Taino" period. What we have not heard of before, however, is the inclusion of human faces on the arms or shoulders of such a figure. It is kneeling as Nicolson wrote, and the inclusion of the human faces bring to mind some of the trigonolito cemis featuring two faces on opposite sides. Unlike one of the most famous surviving examples of indigenous art from Hispaniola, the figure does not appear emaciated (though the sketch may not be entirely reliable). Figure 2 was found at a Leogane plantation (La Yaguana) and Figure 4 sketches were of artifacts found in Grand-Goave.